An Early History of Satellites Timeline

The Space Race of the 1950s saw the Soviet Union and United States competing to send the first artificial satellite into orbit. By 1957 the first stage of the race had been won, with the Soviet Union launching Sputnik. Made possible by advances in technology, Sputnik was only the beginning and since then the number of satellites in orbit has rocketed, with over 6,000 being launched in the years that have followed.